Matthew Morrison wants Simon Cowell and One Direction to make cameo appearances on Glee.

The singer-and-actor thinks the band - which includes Zayn Malik, 21, Harry Styles, 20, Louis Tomlinson, 22, Liam Payne, 20, and Niall Horan, 20 - could join the comedy drama as students attending McKinley High School in Ohio. "We have been so fortunate to have some great cameos, and to have One Direction on would be great for the show. They are not much older than High School age so we could have them as students. And I am sure the younger female cast members wouldn't object to their presence either," Matthew said.

The 35-year-old actor and his co-star Jane Lynch (Sue Sylvester) are also hoping for media mogul Simon - whose reality show X Factor helped catapult the band into the spotlight in 2010. "Both mine and Jane Lynch's dream cameo is Simon Cowell. So maybe the boys could bring their manager. It would make great TV seeing Sue Sylvester and Simon Cowell go head to head," he explained.

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Matthew Morrison says that the Glee cast are over the "hump" of Cory Monteith's tribute episode.

The actor admits it was "hard and emotional" to say goodbye to both the actor - who overdosed on heroin and alcohol in July - and his character Finn Hudson in a one-off episode, but says the tragedy has brought them all closer together:

"We've kind of got over that hump of the Cory tribute episode. I'm so happy we did that, it was incredibly tough, hard and emotional for everyone but we all came together, we were happy to be on the other side of that. We're a family and we all have a great relationship with each other, but that just really solidified us and made us stronger."

Matthew was scheduled to play a concert the night he heard Cory had passed away and though he considered cancelling the show, he was happy it went ahead as he found performing "therapeutic." He explained to Britain's OK! magazine, "I had two shows after he passed and thought about cancelling them but I didn't want to let people down, I didn't think Cory would want me to. The shows were so hard to do but I'm happy I did because there is nothing more therapeutic than singing."

The 34-year-old actor thinks that the "Rocket Man" singer would be perfect in the musical drama playing the boyfriend of hard-nosed cheer-leading squad coach Sue Sylvester - who is portrayed by Jane Lynch. "I would love to have Elton John, and I know the part I want for him too. I want him to play Sue Sylvester's boyfriend. Wouldn't that be funny? I think it would be hilarious, I think the two of them would be so funny," Morrison said.

The handsome star has a wishlist of other people he wants to appear in the series and top of that list is Harrison Ford, because he idolized him in the Indiana Jones movies. Matthew - who is releasing his second album Where It All Began - added, "I've always wanted to work with Harrison Ford, he's a child legend of mine. I was an Indiana Jones kinda guy. That's how I always remember Harrison Ford."

The actor - who plays teacher Will Schuester on the hit musical comedy show - insists that although many of the talented cast members are capitalizing on their fame by releasing their own music, they're not in competition with each other. "We're very supportive. I'm excited because Naya [Rivera] and Amber [Riley] are working on their new albums. I'm really excited for them. I feel like they're voices that should be heard. I respect them as artists," he said. When pressed further about friendly rivalry amongst the cast, he said, "Not at all."

Matthew, 34, is set to return to his stage roots for an album of Broadway musical covers, which he will release next year, and although he released a self-titled album in 2011, he feels this is the record he should've made all along. "Coming from Glee, my first album, I really wanted to write some of my own songs just because I wanted people to take me more seriously. Glee is pretty much karaoke, we're doing [songs by] established artists. For this album, this is what I should have done from the get-go - it's what I grew up singing. It's all Broadway classics. I spent three months just doing research on pretty much every Broadway song you could ever imagine. It was just an amazing experience. I kind of selected the best 15 songs that would fit me and fit the live show I want to put on."

Jane Lynch - who plays coach Sue Sylvester in the musical TV show - has confirmed talks have been on-going for the 29-year-old star to take part in the show, but it has now been revealed she will be definitely be given a cameo role: "There's been talk on set of Cheryl appearing for a year or so, but it's set to happen now. Matthew Morrison has spoken very highly of her [after she appeared in his film What To Expect When You're Expecting] and the younger guys on set are keen to have her on, for obvious reasons. Matthew's chatted to her and she seems keen. Cheryl's the perfect Glee fit, she can sing, she can dance and she looks good. It would be cool if she played herself."

Jane also joked her alter-ego Sue would not take any messing around from the "Call My Name" hitmaker and would be harsher on her than Simon Cowell - who famously sacked her after she worked on four auditions on the US version of The X Factor.

The Girls Aloud beauty is currently starring in her first movie role as herself in What to Expect When You're Expecting alongside Matthew Morrison, and the star of the musical TV show believes she would be great in the series.

"I think she actually has all the tools to be in our show. She'd be a perfect fit for Glee - the acting and singing and dancing," he said.

Matthew admits they only hung out briefly on the set of the romantic comedy but he was impressed with how she dealt with the part: "We spent three days hanging out on the set of What to Expect When You're Expecting. As someone who comes to London quite often, you can't leave without hearing who she is or seeing her face so, it was really good to actually talk to her as a human being and see what a genuinely nice and beautiful person she is."

Dame Helen Mirren is to provide the "inner voice" of a character on Glee. The Oscar-winning actress has recorded lines for an episode of the musical TV show - starring Matthew Morrison, Lea Michele and Heather Morris - where she will be heard but not seen, although the part whose inner thoughts she will be voicing is not known, according to The Wrap.

The episode, titled "Yes/No," will feature Matthew's character Mr. Schuester and Jayma May's Emma prominently. "Helen recorded several long, hilarious monologues recently. She visited the kids on set - they had no idea she was coming and were stunned," a source said.

Glee is renowned for attracting big name stars onto the show, including Gwyneth Paltrow - who played substitute teacher Holly Holliday - and Britney Spears, who appeared as herself. However, Britney's appearance was not easy for the regular cast members of the show as they had to have special security on the day. "What was Britney like? I don't know - I didn't get to meet her. Not many people did. She had pretty big security around her. We actually had security bands to get onto our set that day," Matthew said.

In the year’s most highly-anticipated episode of Glee, the New Directions traveled from Lima, Ohio to the grand city of New York, New York.

The opening started with Times Square, larger than life with its lights and billboards. In the midst of it all stood Rachel Berry (Lea Michele) in her adorable striped coat. “I made it,” she breathed. And that’s how it all began.

Tuesday’s “Night of Neglect” finally put an end to the Glee drought, but the show barely had time to fit in all the tender moments, twists and touching one-on-ones. Only four new tunes were featured in the episode, but at least the show made them count. But did they have anything to do with neglected artists or characters? …No, not really.

The show opened with a classic set-up: Will Schuester (Matthew Morrison) rallying his team to participate in an idea that’s just doomed for failure. Because Sue Sylvester’s Cheerios money is all tied up in untouchable Cayman Islands bank accounts, New Directions found themselves again at funding odds. They need big bucks to make the trip to New York, and Will got the idea to fund the entire thing by selling salt-water taffy. At twenty-five cents a pop. This equals out to 20,000 pieces of taffy (egads!).

The bellyaching that followed put Mike Chang (Harry Shum, Jr.) over the edge. He revealed that four of the Glee club members (himself, Tina, Artie and Brittany) are members of the Brainiacs, the school’s academic decathalon team -- and, they’ve done so well they’re heading to finals in Detroit. But no one in the club even noticed. Will quickly added their funding needs to the projected salt water taffy sales.

Glee returns with fresh episodes next week (finally), and we can give you a hint of what you’ll be seeing. We know which artist Gwyneth Paltrow is singing, which neglected character is getting spotlighted, even why Jesse St. James (Jonathan Groff) is returning. Keep reading to get all the good Glee dirt…